http://www.volkswagencamper.co.ukBEHIND THE SCENES^47
to buy these parts from him (back
in those days there was no internet
and few people making parts). As
a result, Bob decided that at the
next VW Action he would go armed
ready to buy as much as he could,
with the view to selling stuff on.
This was so successful that in 1986
Bob and Arlette decided to expand
their shared hobby and they started
a part-time business specialising in
VW spare parts. They came up with
the name BBT just because it was
short, sounded nice and it was easy
to remember for their customers!
Their first delivery of ordered goods
contained 3 pallets with mainly
restoration and performance parts,
such as special exhaust systems and
Cal look-parts from California.
Sorting and storing was done on
the lawn in front of Bob’s garden
shed and soon they transformed
that to a real shop and storage, all in
Bob’s parents’ garden! Sales took off
and after “borrowing” the parents’
garage and attic, within a year they
decided to rent the neighbour’s ex-
chicken shed to add an additional 40
m2 storage space.
Steady growth forced Arlette and
Bob to move again only two years
later to an old pig farm where they
transformed the stables into a shop,
work premises and warehouse
with a large parking lot. The story
continued and BBT kept on growing,
with sales doubling year on year, so
much so that four years later new
premises were built in Sint-Job-in-
‘t-Goor. To house further expansion,
while rejecting certain activities pertaining to older Volkswagens, a
new building was built in 2003 on
the adjacent parking lot. Nowadays
the business takes up 4140 m² and 20
people are employed on various jobs.
As mentioned above, BBT is a
regular participant at meetings.
By visiting and participating in
meetings and events worldwide they
not only build brand recognition
but also are in direct grassroots
touch with people’s needs. With
the growth in social media BBT now
use that to promote and advertise
their wares and even have own blog
which is connected to 8 different
types of social network media.
After years of experience in
selling, repairing and restoring, Bob
has built a huge network of more
than 300 suppliers from whom BBT
purchases the various air-cooled
parts. However, as we all know,
not all remade parts are as good as
they could be, and sometimes some
things are simply no longer available.
To get round this BBT have built up- Incoming goods
area - Just a small
selection of the
NOS parts store - The workshop
maintains BBTs
personal cars and
vehicles for sale - Bob’s office is
more like a man
cave! - More parts than
you can shake a
stick at!
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